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Stanford women on roll at home heading into NCAAs

STANFORD, Calif. (AP)

Kayla Pedersen and Jeanette Pohlen have a long list of streaks
going in their final season at Stanford.

Three straight Final Four berths they hope to soon turn into a
fourth. A 23-game winning streak since a pair of December defeats
at DePaul and Tennessee - including that thrilling 71-59 triumph
over Connecticut on Dec. 30 that ended the Huskies' record 90-game
winning streak. Pac-10 Conference regular-season and tournament
titles each year, and 57 consecutive victories against conference
opponents.

The one remarkable run they can wrap up with two more NCAA wins:
a perfect record on their home floor in Maples Pavilion for their
four-year careers.

There is much bigger unfinished business for this bunch, too.
The Cardinal haven't won it all since 1992 after near-misses in two
of the past three NCAA finals.

Winning two more at home is the first step. Stanford is riding a
school-record winning streak of 61 in a row at Maples - and
extending that run to 63 straight victories would send seniors
Pedersen and Pohlen out in style having never lost in front of
their supportive home crowd.

''Not many people can say they've done that,'' junior leading
scorer Nnemkadi Ogwumike said of going undefeated at home. ''That's
pretty special. It's kind of like their senior night wasn't their
senior night.''

Stanford (29-2), the top seed in the Spokane Region, will host
Big West champion and NCAA first-timer UC Davis on Saturday in the
first round of the tournament. The Aggies (24-8) are the 16th
seed.

A Stanford victory would set up a second-round date Monday night
in Maples against the winner of Saturday's first game between
eighth-seeded Texas Tech and ninth-seeded St. John's.

While Pohlen is always cautious not to get ahead of herself,
finishing up unbeaten on campus would be a special feat and a
strong beginning to what she hopes ends with that elusive
championship in Indianapolis on April 5.

''I think that would be amazing if we didn't lose here on our
home floor,'' said Pohlen, the Pac-10 Player of the Year. ''It
would be awesome.''

Even with that monumental December win at home over the mighty
Huskies, Stanford knows it is March and April when things truly
count. All summer, the Cardinal were left to contemplate what went
wrong in last year's final loss to UConn.

Stanford - 36-2 last season with those lone losses coming at the
hands of the Huskies - fell 53-47 to Connecticut in the 2010 NCAA
title game after leading 20-12 at halftime. UConn won its 78th
straight game to complete back-to-back unbeaten seasons.

It may very well take getting through Maya Moore and UConn again
for Stanford to complete its mission.

''It's really a special team and we're going to give it our
absolute best shot,'' said coach Tara VanDerveer, whose team had to
rally in the second half last Saturday to beat UCLA 64-55 in the
Pac-10 tournament final, the Cardinal's fifth conference tournament
crown in a row on the heels of their 11th straight regular-season
title.

VanDerveer, who has the most versatile roster in her
quarter-century tenure on The Farm, said that loss in last year's
NCAA final made her a better coach, persuaded her to work even
harder in her 32nd overall season as a head college coach.

That energy rubs off on the players she brings in to keep this
program on the rise, such as Ogwumike and her Pac-10 Freshman of
the Year sister, Chiney.

Or those two senior starters who believe it's finally time to
put Stanford back on top.

''Our goal for the season, like other teams, is a national
championship,'' Pohlen said. ''We'll keep working on it. I was
confident in last year's team, too. This year, we just have a great
team overall.''

Pohlen put it quite simply.

''We're going to have to beat everybody,'' she said.

When Pedersen and Pohlen were freshmen, do-everything guard
Candice Wiggins carried the Cardinal back to the Final Four at long
last after a 10-year absence. When Wiggins departed, she left the
reins to VanDerveer's latest group of stars at Stanford.

Now, this program expects to reach the Final Four every
season.

While VanDerveer joined the elite 800-win club back on Dec. 22
with a victory at San Francisco, a team coached by former Stanford
great Jennifer Azzi, she has always been all about her players and
preparing them to have success at the right time.

Is this finally the year?

''I love the similarities between the '90 and '92 teams with
this team, and I'd love that to continue,'' VanDerveer said.
''Honestly it's hard for me to believe this is really happening.
This year has gone by so quickly. As a team, we know we can only
play six more games together.''

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